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Talk:San Francisco LGBT Community Center
Perhaps Californians have forgotten what “We the People” have struggled to accomplish here in the United States of America. Our Declaration of Independence pronounced us all “created equal”, but it has been Constitutional amendments and legislation that have ensured that we all are equal before the law. How would women react if their right to vote were suddenly revoked? What if all non-Caucasians were similarly disenfranchised by the repeal of the post-Civil War amendments that provided suffrage and equal protection under the law? Would we stand for it if the legislation that resulted from the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s suddenly evaporated? Today we view all of these rights as fundamental and unquestionable, but they all had to be fought for and guaranteed by Constitutional amendment or Congressional act. I can remember that in the South when I was young, there was a law prohibiting Blacks from marrying Whites, and it wasn’t until World War II that the military was racially integrated. Our country has come so far that we now have a woman serving in the office of Secretary of State. We are witnessing a Black man’s campaign for the Presidency, and a woman’s campaign for the Vice Presidency. In addition, we have U.S. Senators and Representatives who are openly gay and lesbian. Our country moves continually toward the ideal that the law views us all as citizens, regardless of our particulars. Yesterday I was in a coffee shop and overheard two women with strollers react to two other women walking in. The newly arrived women kissed one another on the cheek in greeting, prompting the two mothers to recoil and pronounce the scene “disgusting”. I asked these offended women whether they had ever given such a greeting to another woman. In fact, I had personally witnessed that when they had first come in, they had kissed and hugged. These women responded that, yes, they sometimes greeted their mothers or other women close to them in this way. They objected, though, that clearly, the two women in question were lesbians. “You must be ashamed of yourselves, then,” I answered. “For, according to your own logic, lesbians can be recognized by the fact that they kiss one another, and you have admitted that you kiss other women. Ergo, you must be lesbians.” I then made a big show of thanking the stunned pair for publicly admitting they were lesbians. When this raised their ire, I simply asked them how it felt to be judged and labeled. Then I suggested they go home and tell their husbands that they were bisexual, for this was the only explanation of their behavior, again, according to their own logic. Needless to say, the two women stormed out of the Peet’s Coffee and Tea in Santana Row in San Jose, dragging their strollers behind them. My point in telling this story is that prejudice and bigotry are alive and well. Our government, however, should never enforce such biases; rather, it should maintain that all Americans are equal before the law. Those who support California’s Proposition 8, a proposed amendment to the state constitution, must be reminded of the progress our nation has made in separating personal preference from codified law. Those who favor Prop 8 are calling for the same kind of restrictions on certain citizens that used to keep women from voting, force Native Americans to remain on reservations, require separate schools and restaurants for African-Americans, and prohibit interracial marriages. Would Prop 8 supporters also try to stop a Black President? A Japanese-American senator? A Hispanic governor? It is time we realized, fellow Americans and fellow Californians, equality is here to stay. Let’s be a better nation than we have been in the past. Let’s accept that we will not all agree on morals or lifestyles or preferences. Please, though, let’s agree that we cannot protect the civil rights of some and not others. Let’s agree to equality before the law for all citizens, and let’s vote NO on Proposition 8. KD An American, a Californian, and a man tired of bigotry and hate